Auburn U., Auburn

Rankings

Data year Earned doctorates Full-time graduate students Total R&D expenditures Research space
Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked
2024 61 87 459 87 90.8 925
2023 64 86.4 459 90 90.3 911 145 76.3 602
2022 74 84.2 457 95 89.6 900
2021 68 85.1 447 100 89.2 908 154 74 583
2020 72 84.4 450 100 89.3 916
2019 76 83.4 447 105 88.7 914 152 74.6 589
2018 76 82.6 428 109 88.2 911
2017 67 84.6 425 113 87.6 898 145 75.2 575
2016 73 83.4 430 126 86.2 896
2015 72 83.5 426 130 85.8 898 160 72.3 570
NOTES:
  • 1. See TableBuilder for the prior year data.
  • 2. Blank white cells indicate data not available, not applicable, or institution not eligible for survey.
  • 3. Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

Data

Number of earned doctorates, by trend major field of study of recipients: 2024–15
Fields 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
All fields 326 305 283 250 269 253 253 284 270 257
  Science and engineering 238 235 204 179 203 189 193 203 188 185
    Agricultural sciences and natural resources 22 15 17 21 16 24 26 24 25 21
      Agricultural sciences 11 11 11 12 8 13 13 9 12 13
      Natural resources and conservation 11 4 6 9 8 11 13 15 13 8
    Biological and biomedical sciences 40 37 28 31 37 20 27 29 30 20
      Biochemistry and biophysics 2 7 3 2 2 3 . 2 1 3
      Biology and biomedical sciences, general 13 9 6 7 14 1 9 7 8 3
      Bioinformatics, biostatistics, and computational biology . . . 2 1 . 1 . . 1
      Cellular and developmental biology, and anatomy 1 . . . 1 1 . . . .
      Ecology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology 2 6 3 2 3 2 7 4 9 .
      Genetics and genomics 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 1
      Microbiology and immunology 4 2 1 2 3 4 2 2 4 2
      Molecular biology 1 . 1 1 . . 1 1 . .
      Neurobiology and neurosciences . . . . 1 . . . 1 .
      Pharmacology and toxicology 2 5 7 3 2 1 . 3 1 2
      Physiology, pathology, and cancer biology 1 . . 2 . . . . 1 2
      Biology and biomedical sciences, other 13 7 6 9 9 6 4 9 3 6
    Computer and information sciences 9 16 10 5 6 3 5 6 7 13
      Computer science 7 10 5 4 6 3 4 5 7 12
      Computer and information sciences, other 2 6 5 1 . . 1 1 . 1
    Engineering 78 91 74 51 62 65 62 65 65 61
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5 4 . 5 2 1 3 2 3 3
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 3 3 2 3 1 1 3 3 1 2
      Chemical and petroleum engineering 9 16 13 12 6 14 12 13 12 7
      Civil, environmental, and transportation engineering 7 17 13 5 11 12 6 8 8 8
      Electrical and computer engineering 21 20 23 8 7 11 10 16 18 13
      Industrial engineering and operations research 15 6 6 6 15 12 12 9 7 6
      Materials and mining engineering 8 5 6 4 4 2 2 2 5 2
      Mechanical engineering 9 17 10 8 14 10 12 10 6 14
      Engineering, other 1 3 1 . 2 2 2 2 5 6
    Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 10 3 3 1 4 1 2 . 1 .
      Geological sciences 10 3 2 . 1 . . . . .
      Ocean, marine, and atmospheric sciences . . 1 1 3 1 2 . 1 .
    Health sciences 20 19 13 12 22 27 16 10 8 10
      Nursing science . . 3 . . . . . . .
      Pharmaceutical sciences 9 3 1 4 9 5 3 3 2 2
      Public health 1 1 1 . 2 1 2 . 1 .
      Health sciences, other 10 15 8 8 11 21 11 7 5 8
    Mathematics and statistics 10 11 11 14 14 10 8 12 9 14
      Applied mathematics . 3 4 2 1 3 3 . 2 4
      Mathematics 1 . 1 . 1 1 2 2 1 5
      Statistics 1 1 2 4 2 . 1 . 2 1
      Mathematics and statistics, other 8 7 4 8 10 6 2 10 4 4
    Physical sciences 18 18 16 18 14 17 13 16 5 4
      Astronomy and astrophysics . . 2 . . . . . . .
      Chemistry 12 12 8 12 8 14 4 6 4 3
      Physics 6 6 6 6 6 3 9 10 1 1
    Psychology 23 18 21 22 18 17 26 30 28 27
      Clinical psychology 4 5 5 7 5 5 8 6 9 8
      Counseling and applied psychology 13 11 9 7 8 7 9 10 8 10
      Research and experimental psychology 1 1 2 3 2 3 1 7 6 3
      Psychology, other 5 1 5 5 3 2 8 7 5 6
    Social sciences 8 7 11 4 10 5 8 11 10 15
      Economics 6 5 8 2 6 3 5 7 6 3
      Political science and government . . . . 3 . 1 2 2 6
      Public policy analysis 1 1 1 . . 1 1 . 2 5
      Social sciences, other 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 . 1
  Non-science and engineering 88 70 79 71 66 64 60 81 82 72
    Business 11 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11
      Business 11 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11
    Education 56 38 56 52 46 45 42 57 62 45
      Education leadership and administration 13 8 13 11 8 8 6 19 11 10
      Education research 18 17 16 5 14 16 24 15 23 25
      Teacher education and teaching fields 24 12 24 32 23 19 8 18 22 10
      Education, other 1 1 3 4 1 2 4 5 6 .
    Humanities and arts 9 5 7 7 6 8 5 12 11 15
      Letters 4 2 4 1 2 2 2 7 8 7
      Foreign languages and literature . . . . . . . . 1 .
      History 5 3 2 6 3 6 3 4 2 8
      Music and performing arts . . 1 . . . . . . .
      Humanities and arts, other . . . . 1 . . 1 . .
    Other non-science and engineering 12 16 7 5 7 5 4 5 4 1
      Communication 1 1 . . . . . . . .
      Public administration and social services 4 9 2 5 5 1 2 1 3 1
      Non-science and engineering, other 7 6 5 . 2 4 2 4 1 .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
  All R&D fields   393,557   349,273   304,439   266,374   255,281   231,619   212,925   190,340   152,381   135,899
    Science   220,915   194,800   170,164   150,674   150,910   140,109   128,417   110,695   103,839   92,721
      Computer and information sciences   10,193   6,337   5,174   5,127   5,006   4,368   2,653   1,799   1,331   0
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   6,447   5,277   4,791   4,008   3,460   2,690   2,171   3,820   2,633   3,461
        Atmospheric science and meteorology   250   174   72   0   62   61   78   59   112   117
        Geological and earth sciences   3,740   3,505   3,170   2,241   2,513   1,823   1,068   1,690   757   858
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences   787   240   92   0   0   0   2   190   186   352
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec   1,670   1,358   1,457   1,767   885   806   1,023   1,881   1,578   2,134
      Life sciences   162,201   147,192   128,578   111,491   110,768   104,935   101,567   85,135   85,307   75,745
        Agricultural sciences   91,930   81,428   83,715   70,134   72,560   54,306   55,526   47,872   58,753   56,845
        Biological and biomedical sciences   27,344   24,327   17,753   14,099   15,224   13,317   11,229   10,317   12,248   6,975
        Health sciences   26,975   27,593   14,411   15,343   10,995   28,160   26,623   20,321   6,358   9,377
        Natural resources and conservation   3,891   2,238   1,910   986   1,143   1,280   3,101   0   0   0
        Life sciences nec   12,061   11,606   10,789   10,929   10,846   7,872   5,088   6,625   7,948   2,548
      Mathematics and statistics   4,486   4,229   3,875   3,471   3,736   3,706   662   3,094   381   308
      Physical sciences   21,128   19,616   17,011   15,214   15,247   13,220   11,626   9,622   6,415   4,678
        Astronomy and astrophysics   1,808   909   500   22   0   0   0   0   0   0
        Chemistry   7,815   8,154   7,242   5,463   7,222   6,440   4,298   4,441   1,645   1,558
        Materials science   327   242   213   425   60   15   0   74   0   0
        Physics   11,132   10,216   8,907   9,147   7,842   6,710   7,303   5,107   4,767   3,120
        Physical sciences nec   46   95   149   157   123   55   25   0   3   0
      Psychology   3,523   3,763   3,848   3,137   2,824   2,457   1,871   1,572   452   390
      Social sciences   5,080   4,507   3,856   6,228   6,902   5,387   5,940   4,619   4,217   2,838
        Anthropology   8   4   134   0   1   6   5   0   2   0
        Economics   361   216   139   160   1,463   40   1,664   164   1,373   181
        Political science and government   2,206   1,742   1,678   1,640   1,543   1,661   1,115   736   521   0
        Sociology, demography, and population studies   839   658   834   721   545   359   290   46   0   13
        Social sciences nec   1,666   1,887   1,071   3,707   3,350   3,321   2,866   3,673   2,321   2,644
      Sciences nec   7,857   3,879   3,031   1,998   2,967   3,346   1,927   1,034   3,103   5,301
    Engineering   122,623   108,344   93,219   78,720   70,593   59,742   56,233   56,657   45,572   40,249
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering   5,783   5,318   5,193   4,196   3,723   3,250   1,574   1,677   727   373
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering   3,212   6,766   2,161   1,019   1,206   1,110   4,186   773   919   1,322
      Chemical engineering   11,454   8,194   10,044   9,320   7,466   6,733   5,858   6,198   4,749   4,749
      Civil engineering   27,968   19,353   17,821   11,869   9,482   8,655   9,515   6,998   3,142   3,973
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering   13,584   9,922   9,727   10,771   9,695   9,157   6,809   5,601   4,262   5,386
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering   14,679   12,639   11,603   6,100   4,338   4,593   3,103   2,196   798   0
      Mechanical engineering   23,608   19,611   18,859   21,501   19,199   12,747   10,884   10,021   6,450   4,239
      Metallurgical and materials engineering   2,981   1,579   1,176   564   522   656   2,156   456   1,207   1,175
      Engineering nec   19,354   24,962   16,635   13,380   14,962   12,841   12,148   22,737   23,318   19,032
    Non-S&E   50,019   46,129   41,056   36,980   33,778   31,768   28,275   22,988   2,970   2,929
      Business management and business administration   18,279   18,798   17,201   15,167   14,782   15,146   11,569   8,293   1,614   1,830
      Communication and communications technologies   961   1,197   1,038   992   1,018   1,024   0   0   0   0
      Education   3,943   4,525   4,232   3,968   4,190   3,649   2,441   3,173   1,299   1,065
      Humanities   6,392   7,322   6,964   6,812   7,030   7,303   4,728   5,694   57   34
      Law   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   0   0   0
      Social work   312   440   428   423   205   39   29   0   0   0
      Visual and performing arts   0   1   0   1   0   62   1,354   0   0   0
      Non-S&E nec   20,132   13,846   11,193   9,617   6,552   4,545   8,154   5,828   0   0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2024
(Dollars in thousands)
Field All R&D expenditures Federal government State and local government Institution funds Business Nonprofit organizations All other sources
  All R&D fields   393,557   157,999   35,124   177,767   10,785   2,223   9,659
    Science   220,915   90,940   32,742   87,941   2,973   1,373   4,946
      Computer and information sciences   10,193   4,537   0   5,474   36   2   144
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   6,447   2,886   88   3,183   38   0   252
        Atmospheric science and meteorology   250   185   0   65   0   0   0
        Geological and earth sciences   3,740   1,059   39   2,471   38   0   133
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences   787   546   29   212   0   0   0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec   1,670   1,096   20   435   0   0   119
      Life sciences   162,201   68,258   32,132   54,036   2,325   1,155   4,295
        Agricultural sciences   91,930   39,134   28,315   20,340   1,617   540   1,984
        Biological and biomedical sciences   27,344   15,711   597   9,725   296   338   677
        Health sciences   26,975   3,223   1,854   20,016   244   224   1,414
        Natural resources and conservation   3,891   2,258   0   1,406   168   33   26
        Life sciences nec   12,061   7,932   1,366   2,549   0   20   194
      Mathematics and statistics   4,486   1,047   0   3,400   0   35   4
      Physical sciences   21,128   11,077   0   9,831   115   0   105
        Astronomy and astrophysics   1,808   1,337   0   471   0   0   0
        Chemistry   7,815   3,461   0   4,275   0   0   79
        Materials science   327   242   0   85   0   0   0
        Physics   11,132   6,003   0   4,988   115   0   26
        Physical sciences nec   46   34   0   12   0   0   0
      Psychology   3,523   670   0   2,611   78   138   26
      Social sciences   5,080   1,223   519   3,149   93   24   72
        Anthropology   8   0   0   8   0   0   0
        Economics   361   30   85   246   0   0   0
        Political science and government   2,206   246   0   1,888   0   0   72
        Sociology, demography, and population studies   839   266   0   573   0   0   0
        Social sciences nec   1,666   681   434   434   93   24   0
      Sciences nec   7,857   1,242   3   6,257   288   19   48
    Engineering   122,623   61,879   1,064   51,663   3,727   840   3,450
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering   5,783   2,606   0   2,943   150   0   84
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering   3,212   1,731   19   1,268   184   10   0
      Chemical engineering   11,454   5,251   296   5,272   138   127   370
      Civil engineering   27,968   13,874   61   11,155   1,537   698   643
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering   13,584   7,106   0   5,807   58   4   609
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering   14,679   9,301   0   5,012   91   1   274
      Mechanical engineering   23,608   12,505   0   9,303   1,478   0   322
      Metallurgical and materials engineering   2,981   1,667   0   1,080   60   0   174
      Engineering nec   19,354   7,838   688   9,823   31   0   974
    Non-S&E   50,019   5,180   1,318   38,163   4,085   10   1,263
      Business management and business administration   18,279   0   0   13,970   3,652   0   657
      Communication and communications technologies   961   0   0   959   0   0   2
      Education   3,943   669   0   3,213   0   2   59
      Humanities   6,392   174   0   6,207   0   0   11
      Law   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Social work   312   13   0   299   0   0   0
      Visual and performing arts   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Non-S&E nec   20,132   4,324   1,318   13,515   433   8   534

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Federally funded R&D expenditures, by federal agency: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Federal Agencies   157,999   125,783   104,883   91,157   73,468   64,333   58,488   55,700   54,751   48,352
  DOD   27,861   23,535   21,851   18,413   10,945   10,592   7,600   6,463   5,059   5,984
  DOE   10,367   6,113   6,337   6,372   5,006   3,838   3,095   2,844   2,246   2,031
  HHS   23,042   18,920   16,606   15,778   16,001   13,272   12,810   11,446   10,571   8,506
  NASA   5,866   7,446   6,286   6,492   6,019   2,616   1,636   1,583   1,275   1,731
  NSF   19,834   15,636   13,750   10,226   9,435   9,361   9,239   9,072   8,664   8,117
  USDA   44,388   31,471   20,881   18,227   12,104   10,176   11,433   10,689   10,513   11,597
  Other   26,641   22,662   19,172   15,649   13,958   14,478   12,675   13,603   16,423   10,386

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Headcount of R&D personnel: 2024–18 [temporarily discontinued]
Year
2024   .   .   .   .
2023   .   .   .   .
2022   .   .   .   .
2021   .   .   .   .
2020   .   .   .   .
2019   4,200   1,200   3,000   .
2018   2,380   976   1,404   .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field: 2023–14
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space 2023 2021 2019 2017 2015
  All research space   453   416   389   440   355
    Agricultural sciences   109   104   91   101   99
    Biological and biomedical sciences   38   22   22   18   12
    Computer and information sciences   9   9   7   8   8
    Engineering   167   164   112   121   122
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   1   1   3   7   2
    Health sciences   17   16   49   72   51
    Mathematics and statistics   0   0   0   1   0
    Natural resources and conservation   47   48   51   53   4
    Physical sciences   51   48   50   56   53
    Psychology   12   4   4   4   4
    Social sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Other   0   0   0   0   0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

New construction of science and engineering research space, by field and time of construction: 2025–16
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space   14,000   65,086   32,472   94,244   2,475
    Agricultural sciences   5,000   23,814   0   94,244   0
    Biological and biomedical sciences   0   28,061   0   0   0
    Computer and information sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Engineering   9,000   0   32,472   0   0
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   0   13,211   0   0   0
    Health sciences   0   0   0   0   2,475
    Mathematics and statistics   0   0   0   0   0
    Natural resources and conservation   0   0   0   0   0
    Physical sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Psychology   0   0   0   0   0
    Social sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Other   0   0   0   0   0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

Costs for repair and renovation of science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field and time of repair and renovation: 2025–16
(Dollars in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space   0   0   0   0   22,388
    Agricultural sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Biological and biomedical sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Computer and information sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Engineering   0   0   0   0   16,750
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Health sciences   0   0   0   0   2,300
    Mathematics and statistics   0   0   0   0   0
    Natural resources and conservation   0   0   0   0   0
    Physical sciences   0   0   0   0   3,338
    Psychology   0   0   0   0   0
    Social sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Other   0   0   0   0   0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

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